Boris Johnson is staying on

Former British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, who remained a member of the House of Commons after leaving office, has decided not to quit politics and to stand again in the next parliamentary elections, The Daily Telegraph reported.

The ex-head of government informed members of the ruling Conservative Party's West London constituency of Uxbridge and South Ryslip, which he has represented since 2015, of his intention.

The Daily Telegraph pointed out that Johnson had until December 5 to notify the Tory leadership of his plans to run in the general parliamentary elections due to be held in the UK by the end of 2024.

It is also noted that re-election to the House of Commons will allow Johnson to compete again for the post of Conservative leader and prime minister of the country. However, closer to the date of the parliamentary elections he has the right to change his mind and refuse to participate in them.

At the same time, as the head of polling firm Savanta stressed in an interview with the Daily Express, Johnson is not guaranteed electoral success. "Given his current lead in the Labour Party polls, Boris will lose his seat. What is clear is that local factors can change the outcome of the election, but he will lose his seat amid a national turn to the Labour Party," the head said.

Opinion polls published on Thursday by polling company YouGov show that support for the Conservative Party has dipped to 22%. So the gap between the Tories and the Labour Party has widened to 25 percentage points, with 47% of respondents admitting to supporting Labour.